The future is uncertain for his Ministry of Food in Rotherham. That was where, in 2008, Oliver began trying to persuade people with little or no culinary skills to learn how to make simple dishes – and then use their new-found knowledge to help others through a "pass-it-on" pyramid of learning. He hoped that the Yorkshire town, chosen because of its weakness for fast food, would start a nationwide health revolution. "I've been to Soweto and seen kids in Aids orphanages eat better than this," said Oliver of the local eating habits.

Other centres have opened in Bradford and Leeds, and a fourth is due to launch in the north-east. But the trailblazer may not survive beyond next March. "I've heard that the Ministry in Rotherham is threatened with closure – a possible victim of funding cuts," Oliver writes. "I can't understand the logic here at all. Each Ministry of Food centre is booked up at least three months in advance, so the demand is there."

The Rotherham centre has helped 6,500 people in the past year to lose weight or save money on their weekly shopping, he adds, and there is a long waiting list. It would be "foolhardy and a false economy" to let it go.

But the two big grants that helped establish the Rotherham premises have run out and future funding is uncertain. "It would be a big loss if it went", Matthew Gladstone, assistant chief executive of Rotherham metropolitan council, said. "It's very important for the whole of Rotherham to get families eating more healthily, consuming fresh food, parents and children eating together and helping to tackle obesity. It would be a tragedy if it were to go."

The centre received £80,000 each, channelled through the local council, from the Department of Health's communities for health programme and the Yorkshire and Humber regional improvement partnership, which is funded by the Department of Communities and Local Government. "Those two sources of funding are drying up," said Gladstone. Rotherham is also facing a 25-30% cut in its central government grant. Nevertheless, he hopes the centre can become self-financing – it costs £130,000-a-year to run – by paying it to give children cooking lessons, selling drinks and snacks, and attracting corporate sponsorship.

Deep cuts in local council income, which will be confirmed in next month's comprehensive spending review, may raise questions about the viability of the centres in Leeds and Bradford too. Opening one in every part of England would cost £60m a year, a fraction of the £4bn annual cost to the NHS of treating obesity and related diseases, says Oliver. He is now talking to businesspeople about helping to run the centres.

Health campaigners back Oliver. "The Rotherham centre empowers ordinary people to lead healthier lives, benefiting not only them, their families and their communities, but also reducing the huge financial burden on the NHS from treating diet-related diseases", said Charlie Powell, of the food campaign group Sustain. "Let's hope public money continues to be found for the Ministry in Rotherham and for many more round the country too."